As soon as I started college I discovered the difficulties of being a woman in science. I began my journey as 1 or 7 women in my Electrical Engineering major at NC State. To many classmates, I was not a fellow student, but a future wife. I was often interviewed for such a position. Did I know how to sew? to cook? Did I want children? Did I know how to take care of them? Any friendliness was often mistaken for romance and my suitors were persistent. It didn't help that some of my other female classmates used the attention for homework help; it was tiring and the material was difficult enough.

When I left the program and NC State and came to Radford I was much more shielded from the differences. Radford University is more cognizant of the differences and I entered into the more female dominated fields of nursing and biology (in undergraduate at least). Now, as I am approaching graduation and life decisions, I am running into some of those difficulties again.

Do I follow my partner to where ever he goes post-graduation? Do I wait on him so to get a graduate degree before me? It's much more socially acceptable for me to wait for him than him I. How can I have children if I want to go to graduate school for research? How can I have a child and a new career after graduate school? Maternity leave is typically something negative in the job world. Will I have to work part time after having a child? When speaking to my male classmates, this isn't something on their minds; it isn't something they worry about when choosing a PhD program like I do. Should I wish my partner had lessor ambitions? Or a different career choice in mind?

After all that, I have inequality in the workforce to look forward to. Already I've experienced commentation on being a "pretty" woman scientist. I would love to see a man get called "pretty" when first meeting someone in their field. I want to pretend that being it's all the same and doesn't make a difference. I have no desire to be a woman scientist, but an awesome scientist. I used to think it didn't matter because it shouldn't matter, but that's not the same thing.

More C.E.O.'s in American named John and David than Women

Despite all the challenges, I love Science and I won't let anything "dumb" get in the way of it. It is my personal goal to provide guidance and support to women in STEM fields so they have a better idea of what to expect, recognize, and react to these difficulties.

How to approach the potential difficulties

A large part of avoiding the discrepancies women in the workplace face is by being aware of the differences. Being aware of the potential pay gap and ways to minimize that gap. At the women in science panel a common piece of advice was to set up a support network and mentor network of other women in science. By building this network, you not only have an enormous source of advice, but a support team in case you need it.

"So distribution should undo excess, and each man have enough." - King Lear - William Shakespeare